1080p, 5.1 surround sound coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in 2010?

by iyadb on February 9, 2010

Netflix Watch Instantly fans could be due for a big upgrade, as CNET has heard the company will roll out 1080p and 5.1 surround sound later this year. No word on timing or any other details, but this could mean its moving to version 3 of Microsoft’s Silverlight streaming platform with its additional tweaks for adaptive streaming and hardware graphics acceleration. Also unknown is how much bandwidth would be necessary, but considering Microsoft already uses very similar technology for its 1080p Instant On videos on Zune Marketplace through the Xbox 360 while only requiring 3 Mbps and VUDU HDX 1080p videos only state a minimum of 4500 Kbps, a massive jump in available bandwidth might not be necessary if you already get clear 720p video. The last big hurdle? How much content will be available that way, Gizmodo points out only about 6 percent of current offerings stream in HD we’ll be watching carefully if the pace picks up going forward.

1080p, 5.1 surround sound coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in 2010? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments


{ 0 comments }

HDTV Listings for February 8, 2010

by iyadb on February 8, 2010

What we’re watching tonight:

  • CBS (1080i) has How I Met Your Mother at 8 p.m., Accidentally On Purpose at 8:30 p.m., Two and a Half Men at 9 p.m., The Big Bang Theory at 9:30 p.m. and CSI: Miami at 10 p.m.
  • Fox (720p) brings House at 8 p.m. and 24 at 9 p.m.
  • NBC (1080i) has Chuck at 8 p.m. and the season finale of Heroes at 9 p.m.
  • ABC (720p) has the The Bachelor at 8 p.m. and Castle at 10 p.m.
  • CW (1080i) airs One Tree Hill at 8 p.m. and Life Unexpected at 9 p.m.
  • TLC (1080i) has the season finale of Cake Boss at 9 p.m. and The Ultimate Cake Off at 10 p.m.
  • ABC Family (720p) has The Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8 p.m., Make It or Break It at 9 p.m. and Greek at 10 p.m.
  • FX (720p) has Damages at 10 p.m.
  • History (720p) has American Pickers at 9 p.m. and Pawn Star$ at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
  • Showtime (1080i) brings Secret Diary of a Call Girl at 10 p.m., State of the Union at 10:30 p.m. and La La Land at 11 p.m.
  • Travel (1080i) airs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations at 10 p.m.
  • TNT (1080i) has an NBA doubleheader with Hornets/Magic at 8 p.m. and Spurs/Lakers at 10:30 p.m.
  • ESPN (720p) has a college basketball doubleheader with Villanova/West Virginia at 7 p.m. and Kansas/Texas at 9 p.m.
  • ESPN2 (720p) has a women’s college basketball doubleheader with North Carolina/Duke at 7 p.m. and Tennessee/Vanderbilt at 9 p.m.

HDTV Listings for February 8, 2010 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments


{ 0 comments }

Join the Engadget HD podcast live on Ustream

February 8, 2010

It’s Monday, and we know that getting the week started can be tough. We’re here to help by letting you peek into the recording booth when the Engadget HD podcast goes to tape Monday the 8thth at 5:30pm. Think of it as a kind of time machine that will help you power through your day [...]

Read the full article →

RCDb bringing IMBD, Gracenote lookup extras to tru2way boxes

February 8, 2010

We haven’t seen a lot out of tru2way to start 2010, but maybe that can get turned around starting at the CableLabs Winter Conference, where Related Content Database (RCDb) is showing off its technology which pulls together cable set-tops with web databases like IMDB and Gracenote. Using a demo on a [...]

Read the full article →

Sharp and Samsung settle LCD patent cases, end legal dispute

February 8, 2010

After three years of spent treasure, Sharp and Samsung have finally settled their LCD patent fight. Although the terms of the agreement won’t be made public, a Sharp spokesman was caught boasting about conditions that “will be in favor of Sharp” — the company that kicked off the battle back in 2007. As a recap, [...]

Read the full article →

International HD news roundup

February 8, 2010

Here at Engadget HD, we’d prefer not to just focus on high-def happenings in the US of A. Thus, we round up the best of the best from the international front each week and present it here, bundled together in a single, easy to digest list. [...]

Read the full article →

VIZIO Super Bowl ad pushes internet connected HDTVs in a big way

February 8, 2010

We weren’t sure exactly what Beyonce, David Goes to the Dentist and Chocolate Rain all had in common, but VIZIO squeezed them all into its Super Bowl ad. Still striving to remake its reputation from being merely a cheap HDTV manufacturer to a premium one offering lots of features, the ad (embedded after the break) [...]

Read the full article →

HDTV Listings for February 7, 2010

February 7, 2010

What we’re watching tonight:

CBS (1080i) kicks off Super Bowl XLIV at 6:28 p.m.
Fox (720p) airs ’til Death at 7 & 7:30 p.m.
HBO (1080i) has Big Love at 9 p.m.

HDTV Listings for February 7, 2010 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email [...]

Read the full article →

HD channel expansion roundup

February 7, 2010

Once upon a time, a smattering of new HD channels in one major metropolitan area was a huge deal. Nowadays, it’s almost expected that one area or another will experience some HD expansion each week. In order to keep things nice and tidy around here, we deliver high-def expansions, market expansions [...]

Read the full article →

HDTV Listings for February 6, 2010

February 7, 2010

What we’re watching tonight:

Fox (720p) has the NASCAR 2010 Budweiser Shootout at 8 p.m.
HBO (1080i) presents Temple Grandin at 8 p.m.
Food (1080i) brings Food Network Challenge at 9 p.m. and Iron Chef America at 10 p.m.
NBC (1080i) has Saturday Night Live with Ashton Kutcher at 11:29 p.m.
ESPN (720p) has college basketball with Michigan State/Illinois [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries